A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) Shares Purchased by Victory Capital Management Inc.

Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 98,594 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 684 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned approximately 0.07% of A. O. Smith worth $8,857,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AOS. Select Equity Group L.P. raised its stake in A. O. Smith by 11.6% during the 2nd quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 3,852,467 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $315,055,000 after acquiring an additional 400,304 shares during the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC increased its stake in A. O. Smith by 3.7% during the second quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,046,798 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $167,387,000 after acquiring an additional 72,856 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. raised its position in A. O. Smith by 5.0% in the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 1,393,519 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $113,962,000 after purchasing an additional 66,933 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in A. O. Smith by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,194,731 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $97,708,000 after purchasing an additional 19,890 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of A. O. Smith by 2.6% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,075,913 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $87,988,000 after buying an additional 26,794 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $81.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. DA Davidson downgraded shares of A. O. Smith from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. UBS Group raised A. O. Smith from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $75.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of A. O. Smith from $92.00 to $91.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $86.71.

A. O. Smith Stock Performance

NYSE:AOS opened at $73.17 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $80.07 and its 200-day moving average is $81.93. The company has a current ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. A. O. Smith Co. has a 1-year low of $70.73 and a 1-year high of $92.44. The stock has a market cap of $10.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.17.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The industrial products company reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82. A. O. Smith had a net margin of 14.41% and a return on equity of 30.09%. The company had revenue of $957.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $960.36 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.90 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.78 earnings per share for the current year.

A. O. Smith Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were paid a dividend of $0.34 per share. This is a boost from A. O. Smith’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.86%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 31st. A. O. Smith’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.79%.

About A. O. Smith

A. O. Smith Corporation manufactures and markets residential and commercial gas and electric water heaters, boilers, heat pumps, tanks, and water treatment products in North America, China, Europe, and India. The company offers water heaters for residences, restaurants, hotels, office buildings, laundries, car washes, and small businesses; boilers for hospitals, schools, hotels, and other large commercial buildings, as well as homes, apartments, and condominiums; and water treatment products comprising point-of-entry water softeners, well water solutions, and whole-home water filtration products, and point-of-use carbon and reverse osmosis products for residences, restaurants, hotels, and offices.